, 1887-06-23

this trade. If they viii take the
pains TO find out the amount - Soots
consumed On the island tAey VIII find
that thousands of dollars Of Iegiti-
mate profit J. made 10y Seattle out Of
trade that ought to come to them.
VIII lot oar merchants and citizens
think Of this If they think, they
VIII ac.
Senator Iagaljs, Of Kansas, IS a
pretty smart man. but when he mar
zL"I5 lis rare talents in q Quixotic
cudeayor to argue woman suffrage
cut Of existence his best Success Is
merely to illustrate the power of
sophi5try in weak cause. The Port
land Ne1r NoHh}ccsf tells the whole
story in a nutshell when it says that
# you protest against allowing a
drunken idiotic, irresponsive loafcr
tire sise Of the elective franchise,
simply that he may sell his vote for a
drink of whisky, you are told that
you are u-Amcrican-wh while i on The
other hand yor arow that the wives
and Haothers Of the land have as good
a right to rOte as dO the drunken
loGfeTS Gjid cd9dboRis ant the ig-
Horant who may not have lived a year
under cur government, you are fierce
ly told that we have too much voting
already. The only argument" that
avails against equal political rights
as between ,he sexes is a sEliea, Fre
! judiced refusa! TO allow women to
use the ballot. When such man as
Senator 1nga!Is attempts to use logic
and the subtle arts of oratory tC con.
vince meu's reason and sober judg-
ment against woman suffrage they
but add to the long list Of illustra-
tions that show how prone talented
men are to talk when silence would
be more to their credit. The reason
of this Is because equal political rights
is right in and Of itself 1t is founded
upon the eternal principle of justice
and equality before God and before
the world. All argument against it
is special pleading. Before the abo-
lition of slavery there were not waut-
ing eloquent and persuasive ones to
convince mankind that slavery was
best and right: but truth, though for
ages crushed to earth, rose again.
Why? Because the eternal years of
God are hers When this nation
became civilized enough to set the
seal Of its condemnation and repudi-
alton forever upon human slavery,
then and not till then was human
slavery buried out of sight. When
our sense of right and Justice shall
have been cultivated to the point
where we will love the right and do
the right because It is right. then and
not till then will women be accorded
equal political rights A great deal
Of special pleading is done in these
days along the line of avowed willing
ness to confer the ballot upon women
whenever a majority of them desire
it, and very loud claim that they
do not want it. Probably if the ques
ton of abolishing slavery had been
submitted to a vote Of the blacks in
the south before the war, a majority
OF them would have been persuaded
by their masters that slavery was
best. They knew nothing else, and
accepted bondage mechanically.
Many siave-ho!ders vainly avowed
that their slaves were actually better
off than they would be if set free, and
that they did not desire freedom, &c,
&c, But it was all special pleading;
it was childish sophistry; it did not
in the least affect the right or wrong
of slavery So, with woman suffrage.
The argument that many of them
tperhaps majority would prefer to
shirk the responsibility of citizenship
in no wise lessons their duty to see
to it that the best thought of this
nation shall govern it. Senator Ing
alls can no more down the woman
suffrage question than he can dip the
sea out with a tin cup. 1t is n ques-
ton that forces itself with advancing
civilization, question that will never
be settled till it is settled right-and
above all, Il question that will not
down at the bidding of politician
like ingalls,, nor the expressed preju-
dice Of vindictive judges like Lang
ford and Turner. Error dies hard =
it must die, and the question of its
death and burial is merely a matter
of time. The edict of civilization
points surely toward absolute equal
itv baf0ra tho law